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Trump Tells Defense Department to Plan Military Parade for Veterans Day

February 24, 2018 10:55 PM

VOA News

FILE - French President Emmanuel Macron, right, and U.S. President Donald Trump watch the traditional Bastille Day military parade, including military jet flyovers, on the Champs Elysees, in Paris, July 14, 2017.

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Trump Tells Defense Department to Plan Military Parade for Veterans Day

President Donald Trump said he has asked the Pentagon to stage a military parade in the nation’s capital on Veterans Day.

Trump was interviewed live via telephone by Jeanine Pirro, host of Justice with Judge Jeanine on Fox News, Saturday night. They discussed the recent mass school shooting in Parkland, Florida, as well as other issues, including a proposed military parade.

He told Pirro that the parade would be held “probably Veteran’s Day,” which is celebrated Nov. 11, “but I like July 4th.” He said it would be “up and down” Pennsylvania Avenue, the street in Washington that runs from the White House to the U.S. Capitol.

“We’ll see if we can do it at a reasonable cost,” Trump said. “If we can’t, we don’t do it.”

He said the parade would include “a lot of flyovers” of Air Force planes.

FILE - French Republican Guards ride their horses past the Arc de Triomphe in Paris, July 14, 2017. The annual Bastille Day parade is being opened by American troops with President Donald Trump as the guest of honor.

The Veterans Day holiday this year coincides with the 100-year anniversary of the end of World War I.

The military reportedly favors the November date to divorce the aura of the parade and its symbolism of U.S. military strength as much as possible from the contentious U.S. political scene, since the parade would then fall days after congressional elections, set for Nov. 6.

The inspiration to hold a military parade began after Trump watched Bastille Day events in Paris last July 14, when he and first lady Melania Trump were the guests of French President Emmanuel Macron and his wife, Brigitte.